A court battle over open records and the company that operates the Northwest Detention Center has been avoided.

The GEO Group, which has operated the 1,030-bed Northwest Detention Center since 2004, filed a petition in Pierce County Superior Court last week to block the release of several documents requested through public-disclosure laws.

Here’s what happened:

Tim Smith of the Bill of Rights Defense League filed the request to obtain tax records from The GEO Group. He said he filed the records to “better understand the operations of the facility and current efforts to expand its operations.” The detention center will expand by 545 beds. The $40 million project should be completed by September 2009.

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It’s official: I Corps is heading to Iraq next year to take on day-to-day operations.

And the unit that runs Fort Lewis will have two familiar brigades under its command.

The Department of Defense announced the major units in its next rotation Tuesday, and joining I Corps will be the 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division and the 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division – both based at Fort Lewis. The announcement likely caught few people by surprise on post, where personnel have expected this decision.

A firm timetable hasn’t been set, but I Corps is expected to arrive in the winter. The two Stryker brigades will arrive during by summer; a more exact time or location hasn’t been determined because it’s not certain which units they will replace, I Corps spokeswoman Maj. Kathy Turner said.

With smaller units also expected to deploy, as many as 10,000 Fort Lewis personnel will be serving in Iraq next year, Turner said.

This will be I Corps’ first combat deployment since the Korean War. 3rd Brigade will make its third trip to Iraq, and this will be the first time 5th Brigade sees combat.

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You have to love Jenny Severns’ style.

She’s sent a challenge to Tacoma’s Hilltop volunteer groups, via Hilltop Action Coalition’s massive e-mail list.

“Read this now! Throw Down on Hilltop!” she wrote to HAC Director of Community Initiatives Jeanie Peterson.

“I’m putting up $100 to go to the neighborhood organization that signs up the most voters. They can be former voters that changed addresses, names, made good on their felonies or are just signing up to make sure. I don’t care. They just have to do more than leave registration forms around. They have to stand there and fill them out and make sure they get mailed in by October 4th... I have three so far,” Severns wrote.”

“HAC office has lots of voter registration forms,” Peterson shot back. “Just stop in and pick up a bundle.”

The office, at 1224 South I Street, is open during weekday business hours.

Expect lots of competition for Severns’ crisp $100 bill.

“Omega Psi Phi and the Deltas are hosting a voter’s registration at Al Davies Boys & Girls Club this Sat., Oct, 4th, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.,” Toni Whitehead e-mailed Peterson. Whitehead is program director of the club at 1620 S. 17th St.

That’s the American spirit in action:

Register.

Vote.

No excuses. No puny 30 percent turnouts.

I'm back from vacation and figuring out what I'll work on this week. But for tomorrow, I've got something on the Northwest Detention Center coming down the pipeline.